> > ' Earthquakes are fun - it's just depressing that people die or get
hurt
> > in them.'.
> > Point is, yes, people getting dead sucks. But does that diminish the
fun?
> > Not at the time, only afterward.
>
>
> That... has got to be just about as ignorant a statement as the one I
originally replied to, if not more ignorant.
Really? I suspect you'd also say that 'Shit happens' would be ignorent as
well. It's a carefree way at looking at things, yes. Perhaps a tad selfish.
But you call me ignorent for what? Expressing my opinion about something?
> Some rollercoasters have also killed
> > people - some quite a few people. This does not make rollercoasters any
less
> > fun. The same can be said for rock climbing, or any extreme sport.
>
>
> Yes, but those are risks that we take willingly, if we choose to. I
suppose you could (and probably would) argue that living in a high-risk area
for hurricanes is also a choice, but a natural disaster can happen anywhere.
>
It is a choice, and yes, natural disasters can, and do, happen everywhere.
I've seen it first had, on several occasions. While it does suck that people
die, and when people I know die it sucks worse, I also remember that
everyone dies - it's how we live that defines us. Call me ignorent for
believing that how we live is a bit more important then how, and when, we
die, if you will.
> > We also need the rain that storms provide. I'd be more of a cynic,
but my
> > less joyful and darker opinions have no place in this forum.
>
> > AAA (who does like climbing rocks, but refuses to get on certain
> > rollercoasters)
>
>
> I wasn't being cynical. The post I replied to truly bothered me. I don't
know if you're old enough to really remember the devastating earthquake in
the
> San Francisco/Oakland area back in 1989, but something I saw on TV in the
aftermath really troubled me. It was video footage of a person standing in >
the middle of a street, pointing at a crack in the pavement and laughing.
And not more than twenty yards behind them was a partially collapsed
building
> that-- who knows?-- someone may have died in. The post I replied to struck
me the same way. Yes, it was posted *before* the storm hit and did its
> damage, but does that really make it any less inappropriate? Can someone
really say, "Oh, well I didn't know it would kill anyone," when we know that
> that's what hurricanes do when they make landfall?
No, you where disagreeing with a view that is -just- as valid as your
own. Yes, I remember it. I was visiting Berkeley - where I now live- at the
time. In fact, my above quote was taken from a family friend who was also
there. He said it was tragic that people died, and that it ruined the fun of
the earthquake itself. Does that mean I'm ignorent, too? For actually being
here when the event happened, and -yet- doing what I could to help out
around here, but still considering the rolling ground of the quake itself,
'Cool'? Or maybe you just want something to argue about, eh, because someone
said something semi-flippent and it tweeked your sensibilities?
Since you went ahead and posted to this, I'm going to say it again,
people die. Hell, if I died sometime soon, I'd want people to think about
how I lived, more then the fact I was dead, want people to remember that
while somethings are serious matters, on the whole, life is to be -enjoyed-,
even when bad things happen - like natural distasters. I know a few friends
of mine who to this day throw a after quake party - they always raise a
toast to those who died, but then turn around and crack jokes about the A's
vs. The Giants having been the cause of the quake to begin with.
Is that ignorent too? Please, tell me, which part of the simple view
that some parts of life - though tragic - can also have some fun, for some
people, in them? Personally, people who never seem fazed by that stuff amaze
me - they often help keep people who are in alot dimmer spirits from dipping
too far in to depression, as my own mother almost did when my step-dad was
trapped on BART during the earthquake in question.
> Hey, people are free to think whatever they want, and to post those
thoughts if they want to. I just don't see why anyone would *want* to
portray
> themselves that way. People sometimes say things before they really think
them through-- and when you're talking with your mouth, it's understandable
> that those slip-ups happen. But when you're typing a message, you're given
an opportunity to think before you press that "send" button. I guess I just
> wish people did that more often.
Maybe to make a point that any, and all, views are equally valid given
the right person and situation? In my case, that certainly was the point. I
did put alot of careful thought into my e-mail - but you, as so many in the
world often do - took it off the deep end. Point of fact, I'm not saying
you're not right - but I am saying neither is the person you're responding
to wrong. You seem to think that people are not thinking through what they
are sending - in my case, I have - but my views on life and death are a bit
far removed from the norm. I don't mourn the loss of life - not in the same
way so many might. Instead, I try and celibrate who those people where, what
they stood for. Yes, I miss them, but I understand that when your time is
up, there it is, your time is up.
I have several friends who disagree with me on some of my views - but
not all of them. I will say one last thing - in a few hundred years, there
won't be a lot of people outside of historians who will care about the loss
of life from one natural disaster - granted, they won't give a damn about
this exchange either. The long view - especially that long - can be very
comforting.
> -Kiffa, the cat/mouse hybrid
> "I'm my own worst enemy."
Indeed you are, Kiffa. We are all truely our own worst enemy. But like
the man says, Perfection is a road, not a destination.
Alis (who is done with this subject now)
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Received on Mon Aug 16 2004 - 23:19:30 CDT